Chapter 85: (2). Empire Quest -2
As soon as Ian arrived home, he logged into Kailan and quickly checked his inventory.
‘Khhh! G.o.d Dragon!’
He was meant to hatch the G.o.d Dragon’s egg yesterday before logging out. However, to first test the
skill, he used the Hatching skill on the egg of an ancient monster that he had received through the
Making Pets Breed skill.
As the skill had a long cooldown time, he wasn’t able to hatch the G.o.d Dragon.
Ian carefully took out the egg of the G.o.d Dragon and put his hands on it.
“This brilliant color! I bet it’s a Legend rank.’
The War Dragon Ka.r.s.eus was the most powerful among the five G.o.d Dragons.
‘If this isn’t Legend, then what is?’
Ian hummed as he used the Hatching skill.
“Hatching Pet!”
A warm energy came out of his hands.
Uuung-!
The purple light that used to twirl inside the egg came out, instead, it started to swirl around it.
‘Oh! The hatching of the G.o.d Dragon is different!’
Ian got excited while he kept watching the changes of the egg.
The Regular rank eggs he had hatched yesterday immediately hatched when he used the skill,
however, this G.o.d Dragon’s egg was not hatching immediately and kept tantalizing Ian.
Five minutes later…
Ian realized that something was wrong.
The purple light was still swirling around the egg fiercely.
However, nothing was changing, therefore, Ian checked the information of the egg.
[Egg of Ka.r.s.eus]
Lv: 0
Type: Egg
Rank: Legend (one of a kind)
Character: Unknown
Hatching (0%)
Egg left by the legendary G.o.d Dragon Ka.r.s.eus.
Ka.r.s.eus’ egg has started to hatch.
In order to hatch the egg, strong power of war is necessary.
Every time the Summoner wins against a strong enemy, Ka.r.s.eus will gain some strength. It will then
come out of the egg.
…
“Hu…” Ian sighed in relief.
He had been worried that there might be another quest or thing necessary for the egg to hatch.
‘I cannot make it hatch now but it will if I keep hunting as usual.’
He loved the fact that it was of the Legend rank.
‘But what does ‘one of a kind’ mean?’
He couldn’t figure that out yet but, judging from the meaning of the expression, it had to be something
good.
“Shall I go to Muran now?”
Ian then carefully put in Ka.r.s.eus’ egg in his inventory.
Next, he opened the quest’s information once more to read again the quest before he went to the
Emperor.
However, Ian frowned while reading the quest.
“Huh? What’s this? When did it get a time limit?”
The time limit of the Hatching Griffin’s Egg quest had been unknown, but it had turned to 3 weeks
now.
The moment the Emperor Salias gave the order to h.e.l.laim, the quest started to have a time limit.
However, Ian wasn’t aware of that.
“Uh! I would have been in a big trouble if I had wasted more time.”
Ian hurried to return to Muran, capital of the Luspell Empire.
Only after finis.h.i.+ng the Empire quest successfully, he could feel relaxed.
‘I have to move as fast as I can.’
In fact, Ian had always been worried about this quest.
It would inflict him the greatest damage if he failed.
He was relieved when he received the Hatching skill but, after seeing Ka.r.s.eus’ egg not hatch
immediately, he thought the Griffin’s egg might require something to hatch as well.
Then, 3 weeks might not be enough.
Ian headed straight to the Imperial Castle.
…
“Well, Ian. Have you returned with a way to hatch the Griffin’s egg?”
In front of the Emperor’s throne, Ian was sweating at seeing h.e.l.laim the leader of the Imperial Knights
glare at him.
‘Oh! Why do I get the feeling that this crazy monster has gotten even stronger?’
The force Ian felt from h.e.l.laim was literally overwhelming.
He didn’t know whether he could now feel h.e.l.laim’s strength because he had gotten stronger or if
h.e.l.laim had gained more strength. However, it was clear that the knight was much more powerful
than himself.
Ian gulped hard and answered, “Yes, Your Majesty. I have acquired the power to hatch the pets’
eggs.”
Salias was satisfied at Ian’s confident reply.
However, while speaking, Ian had actually created a ‘backdoor’ through which he could escape.
He didn’t state clearly that he could hatch the Griffin, ‘I have to use the Hatching skill to find out
whether I can do it or not, but I need an excuse in case I fail.’
Ian, Salias, h.e.l.laim and a few knights moved to the garden of the Imperial Palace.
After walking for five minutes, Ian spotted the Griffin’s egg.
Similar to the G.o.d Dragon’s egg, a powerful tornado of light was swirling inside the egg.
h.e.l.laim opened his mouth, “Well, Ian. As a Summoner, you must have realized it immediately but this
is the egg of the Griffin.”
Ian nodded, “I see.”
Salias just looked at Ian and the egg.
‘I guess he wants me to try.’
Ian realized what he wanted and slowly approached the egg.
‘Please, I wish this works at once without further troubles…’
His put his hand on the egg, next, Ian used the skill.
Unnng-
Just like when he had woken the egg of the G.o.d Dragon, a warm energy came out of his hands.
Salias exclaimed, “Oh… the Griffin is hatching.”
h.e.l.laim was also watching it with mixed feelings.
He had doubted Ian but the egg, which no one in the Palace could hatch, was about to wake up.
Therefore, he was re-evaluating Ian.
Huuung-!
Ian finished casting the skill and stepped back.
A yellow light was swirling around the egg, but it didn’t seem that it was about to hatch.
‘Just as I thought. It’s not hatching now. I should check its information.’
Ian opened the information window of the Griffin’s egg.
[Griffin’s Egg]
Lv: 0
Type: Egg
Rank: Legend
Character: Unknown
Hatching (0%)
Egg of a legendary Griffin.
The egg of the Griffin has started to hatch.
In order to hatch the Griffin, strong power of wind is necessary.
After absorbing the energy from the place where the power of wind is strongest, in the Kolonar
continent, the egg will hatch.
…
Again, he spotted the Legend rank first.
‘The Griffin is a Legend rank as well… but it doesn’t have the one of a kind option! What could the
difference be?’
Ian finished reading the information while moaning, “Uh…”
‘The place where the power of wind is strongest in the Kolonar Continent? Where is that place?’
Salias asked Ian, “Ian, what is going on? Is the egg hatching?”
Ian bowed lightly, he didn’t forget to be careful and not say something wrong.
One mistake and h.e.l.laim’s sword would come right after him.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have ignited the spark needed for it to hatch.”
“Oh…”
Salias looked content while Ian was thinking hard.
He needed to come up with a way to inform the Emperor that the egg could not hatch immediately
without offending him.
‘Don’t panic. I need to explain it naturally as if I knew it already…’ Ian concluded quickly, ‘It is an
Empire quest, after all. I should use the Emperor’s power.’
Then, he slowly opened his mouth.
He needed to pretend that he had found out that information on his journey, not from the information
window.
“But there is one condition needed for the egg to hatch.”
“Condition? What condition?”
“The Griffin is a monster of the Wind Element. For the egg to fully hatch, it must absorb the energy
from the place where the power of wind is strongest in the Kolonar Continent.”
Ian glanced at the Emperor.
Luckily, he seemed to understand the situation as Ian had intended.
“Ho… it is a legendary monster…”
Salias then looked at h.e.l.laim, “Do you know where the place with the strongest power of wind is?”
Ian also looked at h.e.l.laim with expectation.
He was the leader of the Imperial Knights. He must have traveled through the whole Kolonar
Continent.
He probably knew the place.
Next, h.e.l.lam slowly spoke, “The place where the power of wind is the strongest…”
Everyone looked at his mouth while he continued to speak.
“I think it is… in the Highlands of Firmament, Your Majesty. The power of wind must be the strongest
at the Altar of Firmament in the middle of the Highlands.”
Ian was the most surprised at hearing that, ‘What? Highlands of Firmament?’
He had never been there, but he knew the place well.
It was in the middle of the map in the Kolonar Continent.
However, Ian wasn’t surprised because he knew the place.
It was because of the Wasteland that surrounded the Highlands of Firmament.
‘Oh, that’s crazy. How am I supposed to go there? Monsters at the Wasteland are as strong as those
on the Sikar Desert!’
The weakest monster in Wasteland was at Lv.130. No one knew how strong the rest were.
It would be a suicide for Ian to go there alone.
No, no user nor guild had the power to go through the Wasteland and reach the Highlands of
Firmament yet.
Ian looked at Salias, ‘I need the power of the Imperial Knights!’
Using the Emperor’s power was now necessary.
Ian spoke to Salias, “Your Majesty, I am not strong enough to take this egg to the Highlands of
Firmament yet.”
Ian thought it was time to be honest and ask for help rather than bragging.
“I need Your Majesty’s power.”
His choice was right.
“I think so as well. Additionally, I cannot let you out of my Palace with this egg.”
He meant that he would help Ian, but this also meant that he couldn’t trust him yet.
However, Ian was very glad to hear that.
Salias looked at h.e.l.laim, “h.e.l.laim.”
“Yes, your Majesty.”
The Emperor spoke slowly, “I want you to help Ian. Let Ian and the Griffin’s egg arrive safely at the
Highlands of Firmament.”
h.e.l.laim knelt in front of his Emperor without hesitation.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”